You couldn’t see your breath in our cabin this morning, but it was a crisp 54 degrees. Our oatmeal and brown sugar breakfast was just right. We continued south, setting off by 8:00 AM.
We must be in the south, we are just beginning to see old trees with the long grey beards of Spanish moss.
The white cliffs of Epps were an interesting geological formation for about a mile along the way. It was a sudden change in terrain and strikingly different shore line. The high cliffs were snow white limestone and reminded us of the chalk cliffs of Dover in England. These cliffs were 80
feet above the river before the lock and dam raised the river level to where they are now around 30 – 40 feet in elevation. The limestone is known to be rich in fossils.
Tom was chatting with tugboat captains to pass the time today. 
We passed the tugboat, Eleanor, that was pushing 8 barges loaded with black shiny coal and headed south towards Mobile. The captain told us that he was pushing 1500 tons of coal per barge. We also passed the Crimson White tugboat, out of Mobile with a covered load of salt and barges of pig iron that was going to a foundry in Columbus, MI. He allowed that a 200 foot barge generally could carry 1700 tons. The commerce of the river seems specifically well fitted to the tugs and barges.
A hot topic of conversation on the radio in the river valley of Alabama was the opening of deer
hunting season (there were jokes about the ladies being widows once the season started). So it was in keeping that we actually spotted a doe swimming across the wide river today. She swam fast and once ashore she disappeared quickly on the bank on the far side. We wondered how she knew she could swim and what was the motivation for her crossing. Perhaps she was following a migratory path she learned from her mother or perhaps she was being chased from the far side.
In either case, I was glad to see her safely across. It was also fun to see cows napping along the river side. A couple of them seemed to be grazing although all we could see there was dirt. Maybe they were must optimistic – a good example for us all.
The river descended another 35 feet at the Heflin Lock. As we waited for the lock doors to open,
we could see the water being drawn towards the lock with the water hyacinths moving rapidly along the banks with the flow. When the huge doors opened we had to drive through a dense patch of hyacinths to get into the lock. So today we discovered an interesting factor of this water way. The thatches of water hyacinth can be so dense that they support growth of a marsh grass. In North Carolina if you see marsh grass, you can assume that it is on shore or a sand bar and there is shallow water there. However, here, there can be tall grass growing on a patch of water plants where the water if 30 feet deep. Instead of waves washing through the grass, the wave lifts the grass since it is all floating. It is pretty amazing difference in your assumptions about navigating your boat.
We arrived in Demopolis mid afternoon and are tied up on the T-head at the Demopolis Yacht
Basin. The water is beautiful with sky and boats reflected in the evening light. With a marina car loaned to us, we drove into town to eat at the rustic Red Barn. We had and soup and salad and fried catfish. The hot homemade soup had mouth sized slices
of vegetables, the blue cheese dressing on the salad bar scooped like ice cream, but the epitome was the watermelon rind preserves. Where do you get watermelon rind preserves these days? – that really reminded me of my childhood; my aunt used to make them.
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